 No margins for error. Any organisation that works with young people must be held to high standards of practice. This is why OFSTED scrutinise the procedures that ensure the safety of not only the young people but our foster carers aswell. We’re incredibly proud of our Good and Outstanding grades, but the details behind these grading systems can be elusive to those not involved in the day to day of fostering and may not encompass how our service is received, beyond the formalities of practice and procedures. Whilst the OFSTED process is extremely important, it doesn’t happen all that regularly. And we want regular assurances that our stakeholders are being served to the standards they deserve and that we set for ourselves.  Continuous Improvement – Carers and children in the driving seat!
This is why we commission a 3rd party to develop a survey aimed evaluating the thoughts, feelings and morale of our staff, foster carers and young people. This involves collating the views of all stakeholders involved with the Trust as well as benchmarking us against the ‘norm’ for hundreds of other organisations – Small, large, for profit and not for profit. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing the results that communicates exactly what it’s like to work, foster and be fostered through The Children’s Family Trust. Our service is driven by the success of our teams, foster carers and looked after children and we thank every single person who responded to the survey. Even the young boy who suggested we could improve with more chicken nuggets and quite frankly, we agree. If you’d like to join our team of foster carers, get in touch today and curate a service that works, for you. Source: https://thecft.org.uk/  Have you thought about becoming a foster parent? Would you like to know more about the process to be a foster carer? Do you like the idea of helping children to have the best start in life? Do you have questions about fostering that you want to get answered? You are in the right place! Our team is holding an online Q&A event where you can find out more about fostering children in England and Wales. We are a not-for-profit, independent, ethical fostering agency supporting children and foster carers across the North West, Midlands, Yorkshire, East Anglia, South West and South Wales. Find out more about who we are and what we do on our website – or book yourself onto one of our online events and have an informal chat with our team. In the UK three-quarters of looked after children are cared for by foster families and foster carers play a vital role in transforming these children’s lives. But we need at least 6000 more foster parents in England to meet the growing need as we are seeing record numbers of children in care. Can you foster? Will you consider your options and take action to talk to us today?  Can you foster? Will you consider your options and take action to talk to us today?
Click this link to join our next online webinar and find out about the events happening near you where you can meet our team for a chat. If you are over 21, have room in your home and want to make a real difference to children in England and Wales we would love to speak with you. Source: https://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk  Responding to the election Humza Yousaf as leader of the SNP and Scotland’s new First Minister, Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland, said:
“I congratulate Humza Yousaf on his election as SNP leader and as Scotland’s new First Minister. “Throughout the contest for SNP leader, Barnardo’s Scotland has urged all of the candidates to commit to prioritising the needs of children and families – including making tackling child poverty the central priority of the Scottish Government. I warmly welcome the comments Humza Yousaf has made to this effect in his remarks following his nomination as First Minister this afternoon. “We also want to see the new First Minister redouble the efforts of the Scottish Government to keep The Promise and reform Scotland’s care system, primarily through proper investment in early intervention and family support services “Other vital work such as ensuring the UNCRC Incorporation Bill comes back to Parliament and that the Children’s Care and Justice Bill currently going through Parliament leads to meaningful change should be high on the priority list for the incoming First Minister. “As one of the leading children's charities in Scotland, we look forward to working with Scotland’s new First Minister to continue to advance the needs of children and families.” Source: www.barnardos.org.uk  At The Children’s Family Trust (CFT), we value all of our audience, customers and service users, and strive to ensure that everyone accessing our website has the most positive user experience possible. We have recently added a new accessibility tool, Recite Me, which allows users to customise our website and view it in a way that works best for you. Here’s why web accessibility and inclusivity matters to us: People are our priority
With our new software, we can make a difference by ensuring our children can access the information they need coming in to care in a format that is accessible to them, as well as providing our staff and foster carers with the tools to read information in a way that best suits them. We embrace all walks of life and backgrounds Alongside disability and literacy-based barriers to accessing information, providing information to people whose first language is not English is an important part of reaching individuals in the UK who want to provide stable and loving homes to children in care. With 1 in 10 people not speaking English as their first language, it is important that we reach these communities by allowing them to access information in a way that is comfortable and clear for them. In addition to this, in recent years we have seen a rise in the number of children coming into care who do not speak English as their first language, and as an organisation we recognise that this time is already a very difficult experience for a child or young person to go through, without having to worry about the added pressure of language barriers. With this new software, users can benefit from the real-time translation feature, which can translate our information into over 100 languages, including 35 text to speech voices. Our Marketing and Media Manager, Jessica, commented “We are excited to be launching the Recite Me Toolbar on our website in the hope that it will make the experience for all of our users more comfortable.” “As an organisation, we support both foster carers and children from all walks of life and backgrounds, and it is important for us to ensure that our stakeholders are receiving information in a way that suits them best. We are hopeful that adding the Recite Me toolbar will make our website function in a more accessible and inclusive way for all and allow us to reach more people.” Guide to using Recite Me For more information on Recite Me, check out their website here. Here’s our quick guide to using Recite Me on our website: Screen Reader Our screen reader helps people who are visually impaired or neuro-divergent to perceive and understand the information on our website. Key features include:
You can see the reader being used in this image.  Styling Our website is customisable to a way that works for you. Recite Me supports people who are dyslexic, visually impaired or have a learning disability to change the way our website looks, so you can experience it the way it is intended. Key features include:
The styling function has lots of different options, as shown in our example image.  Reading Support Reading content online can be a challenge for some people. To simplify and support you to read our content, Recite Me provides additional reading tools. Tools include:
The reading function makes small writing easy to read, as shown in our example image.  Translation 1 in 10 people don’t speak English as their first language in the UK. By using Recite Me, you can quickly and easily translate all our website content into over 100 languages, including 35 text to speech voices. The translation function changes everything you see on our website, as shown in our example image. If you have any additional questions about using Recite me on our website, you can contact us on 01527 574446 or email us.  Source:
https://thecft.org.uk  Ahead of next month’s General Election, the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (TACT), is calling on all Britain’s political parties to step up and make children in care, foster carers and care experienced young people an important part of their election promises.
To that end TACT has produced its own manifesto – Call to Action, a plan that we urge all parties include in their manifestos, to transform the life chances for children and young people in care. TACT CEO Andy Elvin said: “TACT’s Call to Action highlights what government and local authorities should be doing to fulfil their responsibilities as corporate parents. Children and young people’s voices should always be heard in the design of policy for the care system. Unfortunately, far too often the state is not a good enough parent.” Here are some of the actions we are calling for: Automatic Delegated Authority for Foster Carers Foster carers are experts on the children that they look after and should automatically have full delegated authority for all decisions about them unless there is a valid reason not to do so. Foster Carers as personal advisors for their care experienced young people. When young people have positive relationships with their foster carers, they should be given the option of having them as their personal adviser as a natural continuation of the foster carers’ role. This would enable foster carers and care experienced young people to continue their relationship with the financial support that will enable them to do this. Waive or pay university tuition fees or offer a guaranteed apprenticeship for care experienced young people Universities should guarantee undergraduate places for care experienced young people regardless of their age and financial support with a maintenance grant in place for living expenses and accommodation during term time, and outside of it. Many young people will not wish to go to university and there should be a guaranteed apprenticeship for those care leavers. Local authorities and governmental agencies should also be offering appropriate employment opportunities. More central government funding for Staying Put ‘Staying Put’ enables young people in foster care to remain with their carers until the age of 21. The future of ‘Staying Put’ is currently uncertain because funding is only secured until 2020/2021. Under funding and no guarantee of continuation to the scheme can leave carers unable to offer a continued home for their foster children when they reach 18. Extend the current legislation prohibiting private for-profit companies from running child protection services to all of children social care services. Private equity firms are increasingly present in the fostering market, buying and selling independent fostering agencies and making substantial gains in the process. More transparency and accountability is needed, with resources remaining within each provider to ensure a total focus on the needs of children and young people. For the full Call to Action click here Source: www.tactcare.org.uk  Dave Bailey, Fostering Manager at our new Young People at Heart office in Hereford, has experienced an unprecedented amount of interest from foster carers wishing to transfer to Young People at Heart from a number of other fostering organisations in the region, as well as applications from people wishing to become foster carers.
Dave said the not-for-profit ethos of Young People at Heart, together with our ability to provide local support, training and activities for foster carers and young people, was a huge attraction and he looked forward to welcoming more enquiries from prospective Young People at Heart foster carers, whether they were new to fostering or experienced carers wanting to transfer to the organisation. In order to support the huge level of interest in joining Young People at Heart in the Herefordshire region, Dave said the organisation was looking to bring forward the appointment of a supervising social worker to January 2018. He invited applications from suitably qualified individuals via the link below to our recruitment partner, TOP Recruitment: Supervising Social Worker – Herefordshire Dave also said he would like to appoint more Form F assessors to the Herefordshire Young People at Heart family and he again invited applications from suitable qualified candidates through the following link: Form F assessors – Herefordshire and surrounding counties Gary Cox, who founded Young People at Heart with his wife Davina, said they were both delighted with Dave’s appointment and the immediate impact he was having on the fostering provision in Herefordshire and surrounding counties. Gary said it was a testament to Dave’s practice that a number of foster carers from his previous for-profit, venture capital backed foster care employer had contacted Young People at Heart requesting to follow Dave but added that he was equally pleased they had received enquiries from foster carers for other organisations who wanted to be supported locally and that he was particularly excited that Dave was receiving enquiries from applicants new to fostering. Source: https://www.youngpeopleatheart.org  When Laurie Gregory, an ex-Deputy Director of Social Services, decided to start an independent foster care organisation – he wanted to do something different. Laurie was a foster carer himself for many years, so he had a full 360 degree understanding of the sector. Starting a ‘for profit’ agency was not an option, but he wanted to go further than simply establishing a not-for-profit organisation.  He then contacted Co-operatives UK, and plans for The Foster Care Co-operative (FCC) began to fall into place. “Quite apart from the morality of it, I wanted to give more children the chance of family life,” Laurie said. “I instinctively did not wish to start a 'for profit' company and after meetings with my Chamber of Commerce and invaluable advice from Co-operatives UK, I chose the model of multi-stakeholder and common ownership and registered the company. We have grown slowly by bringing new people to fostering." The Foster Care Co-operative was founded in 1999. Since then, the co-operative model has proved hugely beneficial. As there is no involvement from distant shareholders or investors, FCC’s members on the ‘shop floor’ have always been consulted and listened to. This has made the organisation ‘transparent’ and responsive to change – particularly at a policy level. It has also created a culture of greater democracy. Simply put, FCC have given its staff who work directly with children the power to make positive change within the organisation for the good of those children. FCC remains the only not-for-profit fostering agency operating as a co-operative in the UK. It has grown steadily and organically and now has teams situated throughout England and Wales, with offices in Malvern, Cardiff and Manchester. It is Co-operatives Fortnight from 17th June - 1st July - an opportunity for organisations to highlight how co-operating, working together, makes a difference #coopstories Source: https://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk  My wife Sue and I had talked about fostering for many years before taking it up seven years ago. Neither of us were raised by our birth parents, I was adopted as a baby and was very lucky to become part of a very loving family. Sadly for Sue, she had a very chaotic childhood, and was in and out of foster care for most of her early years.
We have always thought we would like to help young children probably for different reasons. I felt that I would like to give something back because I felt I had been so lucky in my childhood and Sue felt that she would like to provide the sort of care and love that her early years were so short of. Looking back, I can remember the exact day when Sue and I decided to stop talking about fostering and start doing it. We were sat in a very empty and quiet house on the morning of the funeral of my step-father and we were talking about how the old house was always so full of life and noise, with all the children and family gathering there, but now with mum in a nursing home and the old boy having gone, it was a bit sad. We both said how lovely it would be to hear the laughter and noise of youngsters again and at that point we saw an advert in a local paper for TACT and that is how it all began. The application process and panel meeting came as no shock or problem, the team at TACT had told us exactly what to expect and were there to help us through every stage. When the time came to welcome our first placement we were very excited, but it has to be said we were also nervous. We learned that the young lady about to join us had been at numerous placements in the last year or so and could be described as having somewhat challenging behaviour. But after several years of school, police and court visits and appearances she came out the other end and into independence with a reasonable set of GCSE’s and a slightly less angry approach to life. She now lives with her boyfriend and we miss her enormously. The bond between her and Sue is still very strong and we are now Grandma and Granddad to her two-year-old little girl. We have an enormous feeling of pride for her. Admittedly fostering has been very challenging at times, but when you are handed a little baby and hear the words “go to granddad”, there are simply no words! We currently have two little men as a work in progress. One is a teenager and has been with us for six years and one a ten year old lad joined us three years ago. Both of them are long term placements and came from very chaotic backgrounds. They can at times be rather challenging, but we wouldn’t be without them. There is just on more member of our extended family, a young lady who came to stay with us for a respite break some four years ago and has visited most years since then and still stays in touch regularly. Sue and I are a good fostering team. While she works as a part-time hair stylist at a local hairdressing salon and I am the stay at home ‘lead carer’, we very much play an equal part in caring for the boys. We have an excellent support network in TACT and our two grown up sons who are back-up carers when needed. Fostering is pretty much as we imagined it would be, we both have a way of planning our lives around the boys. Probably our best advice to offer new foster carers would be to learn as much about attachment disorders as they can, and possibly more importantly, talk to people who are already fostering. Oh and hope for the best but plan for the worse. Steve and Sue TACT Foster Carers Source: https://www.tactcare.org.uk  Community Foster Care has welcomed Vivian Gibson to its Cumbria office. The Placement Support Worker joins our team in Peart Road, Workington after 14 years as a family worker with Cumbria County Council.  Five of those years were spent with the looked-after children team. She was also a foster carer for two years. “I’m enjoying being part of the CFC team and getting to know the carers and the children personally. This agency has always been well-regarded by carers for the level of support it provides – and that’s so important,” said Vivian, 46, who has lived in Workington for more than 20 years and has three grown-up children. Registered Manager for CFC, Emma Weaver, welcomed Vivian to the team. “Her experience with the local authority and as a foster carer is invaluable and we know she’ll be a great asset,” she said. Community Foster Care, a charity and independent agency, provides foster carers for children all over Cumbria. Foster carers come from all walks of life and can be male or female, single, married or divorced. They must be over 25 and in generally good health. Source: http://www.communityfostercare.co.uk  On May 16th 2017, our South Central team opened their doors and welcomed in supporters of CFT to share in the celebration of the grand opening of their new office. Due to rapid expansion in recent years the south region have now had to move to bigger premises to accommodate the needs of the staff and the sizeable growth of our foster carer base. Since the region initially formed in 2012, we have already had two offices moves both of which were due to the need for bigger spaces. Initially working from one small office in Basingstoke, the region then moved to bigger ground floor premises in Petersfield, before eventually moving to their new home in Waterlooville, in which they now occupy an entire building on the Briars business park. The centre has 2,000sq ft of space across two floors, and we will use the new office for foster carer training, meetings, and holding our panels and participation events. The grand opening was an opportunity for members and supporters of The CFT to come together and celebrate the success of the region and the hard work of its Foster Carers. We had an excellent turn out from Foster Carers, Prospective Foster Carers, Staff members, Trustees, Our Chairman and The CFT President, all of whom shared stories and memories of the organisation. Speeches and cake cutting from our Chairman and President respectively, were followed by the grand office unveiling and ribbon cutting which was headed up attended by local celebrity, Steve Power. Steve is a well-known radio DJ at southern station Wave 105 Radio and kindly wanted to attend the event to show his support for the work of our charity.
We would like to thank everyone who came to celebrate this historic day with us and would like to thank all the staff who were involved in the seamless organisation of a fantastic day. If you would like to read more about the event, you can check out this news article from the Portsmouth News here: If you are, or know anyone interested in Fostering in the South region of England, please get in touch with us to talk to us about how we can help you take the next steps on 0300 111 1945. Source: http://thecft.org.uk |
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